With proper assistance
by Hiruma Musouka
Summary: It's hubris to forget that being the "strongest Hidden Village" is more about PR and oﬀensive military strength than about being impenetrable. / "flippity floppity, timey whimey" verse
**AN:** Thank you, friend Lauren, for being a beautiful person who beta read this when you care zip about Naruto. (Love you bunches!)

Some innocent soul asked why Madara and Hashirama didn't talk about their younger brothers in CHANGE PLACES! and a few weeks later, that tinder caught fire in my brain, and I decided that one could never have too much writing practice. Aren't I a "good" person for explaining?

Please feel free to review or comment or ask questions: you might inspire other pieces.

Title is from the rather dark joke in Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.

 _"I mean," she said, "that one can't help growing older."_

 _"One can't, perhaps," said Humpty Dumpty; "but two can. With proper assistance, you might have left off at seven."_

.

.

Tobirama had come to realize over the course of his life that being a sensor was a double-edged sword, as the civilians say.

He would never give it up, even if he could, since it was the very basis for his perception of the world. He couldn't really imagine being without it. It was also a distinct advantage that he ruthlessly used to its utmost potential: one of the many tools that Team 7 had available to them which let him, Madara, and Mito smoothly manage missions that others thought were outside their capabilities.

However, sometimes there were... emotional drawbacks to being able to sense what was happening elsewhere.

Unlike what the more prurient people insisted on thinking, the drawbacks didn't have anything to do with being able to infer people's private aﬀairs. He had always ignored that and it was more irritating than anything when he couldn't. The problem lay in the fact that Tobirama had always been able to sense at a far greater range than he could immediately aﬀect.

Knowing something was happening did no good if you were hours away from being able to aﬀect it.

Such was the case today as he returned from Suna with his temporary team. They had been tasked with assisting Suna's best Doton users in the creation of a more eﬃcient and protected underground water system. The previous one had been irreversibly damaged by an S-class nuke-nin, who had deliberately created a massive earthquake to cover his escape after his infiltration had been uncovered.

Although, it was perhaps more accurate to say that _Tobirama_ had been tasked with assisting in the creation of the water system, given his widely renowned skill with Mizu jutsu. His team of fellow chuunin, however, had been given the honor of reinforcing their traditional alliance with Suna by helping the Suna nin determine how the caped criminal had entered unnoticed and then sealing that breach.

It had actually been an incredibly smooth and easy mission despite the potential political pitfalls. There had been no major problems, no deaths, no roadblocks, and the three chuunin simply _didn't have_ the sort of stubborn, strong willed personalities that Team 7 possessed in spades. They didn't even resent taking orders from a sixteen-year-old prodigy. The pleasant chatter was almost eerie for Tobirama who was far more accustomed to the heated arguments, intellectual debates, and insults that regularly peppered every occasion where Team 7 was close enough to hear each other without yelling.

Tobirama was also irritated to admit that he found it slightly boring. He had apparently grown far too accustomed to either arguing with Madara himself or listening to Mito bicker with the Uchiha like the two had since the first day their mothers had dropped them oﬀ together at the Academy.

He would never admit it out loud, but he had encouraged a speedy return to Konoha primarily to see his teammates sooner. It had been frustrating to finally iron out the last details in his Hiraishin jutsu only to be interrupted by the mission summons. He had _just_ been about to test the alterations he'd incorporated at Mito's suggestion when the bird arrived.

And Tobirama had been looking forward to dumping a smirking Madara on his ass using Hiraishin ever since he had thought up the jutsu.

Except now that Tobirama's group was partway into Hi no Kuni and he was within sensing range of Konoha, he knew that something was deeply wrong. The entire village was undergoing a level of turmoil and several Clans including his own and the Uchiha were grieving. The only thing as prominent as grief was the shared rage lurking throughout the villagers.

Dread pooled in his chest, and Tobirama hurried them onward as fast as he safely could, getting worried looks from the others at the news. Yet there was nothing else they could do at this distance. He couldn't hurry the team on any faster and still have them in potential fighting form when they got there.

He reached out for the people he knew to check that they were ok, but someone had strengthened the barrier seals in Konoha's walls and it clouded everyone's signature. He could still recognize those with stronger or distinct chakras, but he couldn't single out anyone below chuunin level except as a vague individual in the melded mass of humanity.

He knew Toka wasn't there, but Hashirama was in pain, grieving within the compound's walls with the other Senju, and Madara... he had thought he had detected Madara holed up in the Uzumaki area with Mito except that wasn't right. He had spent far too much time with Madara and Mito on all kinds of missions since they graduated the Academy six years ago, and at this point, he could be in a drugged stupor and still recognize them and Koharu-sensei.

That was Izuna with Mito, not Madara.

Izuna, who felt full of an agonizing grief, tinged with a deranged madness and an edge of brewing vindictive hatred. Izuna, who was imitating his brother's chakra signature somehow with disturbing success, and who had Mito steadily pacing around him in a circular _patrol_.

And Mito was similarly pained and _worried_ , except she had sublimated it into the indomitable focus and calm resolution that Tobirama associated with her balancing variables as she created a seal on the spot to get them out of a hard place on a mission.

There wasn't a single chance that the news was going to be good once they get there, but Tobirama hoped their early return could make a diﬀerence somehow.

.

* * *

.

Mito was waiting for them outside the gate when they arrived.

The fact she felt the need to catch him immediately on arrival was even worse than the grave resolve on her face. That had never really been something that she'd done after any of the few missions Team 7 had taken separately since their promotion. Madara was the one who always met either of them at the gate (and usually dragged the other teammate along) because the Uchiha found comfort in seeing their health with his own eyes.

Mito, however, insisted that they needed to return to the Academy if they were incapable of sensing _her_ chakra while in Konoha and preferred to see them only after showers had been taken.

Which was... fair enough given the aftermath of that damn mission to the swamplands he and Madara had gotten stuck with at fourteen. Although Mito should have known better than to show such amusement when Madara was pissed if she hadn't wanted the taller teen to hug her, disgusting clothes and all.

"Tobirama," she said shortly, nodding to his Hyuuga, Aburame, and Nara teammates. "You're back early. I'd like to speak with you privately."

"Should we not report back in first?" Hyuuga Haruka asked, a barely-there frown on his face as they all glanced towards the village through the gates.

Mito tightened her lips fractionally, but before she could respond, one of the older shinobi on gate duty came forward.

"While that's normally true, your team made it back two days early and aren't due to report," he said, lazy eye oﬀ center as he considered them. "A few unfortunate things have happened here in the meantime. Since you have the luxury, I agree with the young kunoichi here: go back home and get word straight from your Clan Heads instead of getting the rumor mill version first. You'll save yourself some potential grief."

The man nodded briskly and turned to go back to his post before pausing at Tobirama, hesitating, and finally looking away with a strangely respectful nod and a quiet "Senju-san."

Mito smoothly strode forward, briefly touching his arm, and shushin'ed away. With a brief goodbye to his comrades, Tobirama followed her.

After a few minutes, they stopped at the bank of the river winding through the forest north of Konoha, and Tobirama turned towards Mito expectantly.

"I am afraid I have some grave news along with a very serious problem which is extraordinarily time sensitive," she said, folding her hands in front of her as she stood still, looking at the water. "I apologize that you won't have the time you deserve to process this if we are to prevent further issues without discovery."

"I didn't expect it to be good news, Mito," he said, clenching his right fist at his side. "There's no need to apologize for something you can't help."

Mito put a hand on his forearm, dark gray eyes serious and sad, "I know. I am sorry anyways."

He took a breath, brushed a lock of white hair out of his eyes, and steadied himself before nodding.

"Two days ago, Chuunin Yakushi Michiru was found by a Konoha patrol struggling to return to the village with lethal wounds," she said evenly as Tobirama's eyes widened. "Before dying in transit, she reported to the patrol that her jounin leader, Yamamoto Ryouko, and her teammates, Uchiha Teshio and Senju Itama, had been killed by an unknown ninja wearing a damaged hitai-ate and a black cloak with red clouds."

"Itama is dead..." he whispered, chest tightening.

"And yesterday morning," Mito continued, dark eyes sympathetic but resolute, "a traitor to Konoha conspired with an unknown handful of ninja and attacked the Academy."

Tobirama was barely aware that he was shaking his head in denial, insides freezing as he took a step back.

Mito followed him, hand squeezing his arm briefly. "It was a very precise surgical strike in the Academy carried out solely by the traitor himself. He attacked only one of the senior classes set to graduate this year, killing the chuunin sensei and half of the children instantly by way of an unidentified explosive device set oﬀ in the front of the class."

"Senju Kawarama, Uchiha Hotaku, and Uchiha Fujimaru were all confirmed as dead," she said, lowering her eyes respectfully as she blinked a faint wetness away. "It was likely they were the specific targets given the explosive's location. If he had wanted to kill more children, it would have been placed further back—"

"Stop," he whispered, breathing shakily.

Mito stopped.

 _Breathe in four beats_ , he thought, _hold for one, breathe out four beats. Breathe in..._

They stood there in silence, heads bowed as Tobirama worked to control himself. Faintly he wondered if there was something wrong with him that he wasn't tempted to cry for his _own younger brothers_ when his teammate could.

"My younger brothers are dead," he finally said, voice flat.

It didn't hurt any less when Mito nodded a second time.

"Yes. I am sorry, Tobirama. For you and Madara and your families."

"Mada—" he stopped, remembering that she'd said Teshio, Hotaku, and Fujimaru had died as well. Three of Madara's four brothers all dead within two days.

"No wonder Izuna feels like he does," he said, remembering younger children with messy black hair rough-housing in the Academy courtyard. Teshio had always insisted that Itama was too damn nice to be a proper shinobi even though he'd punched Inuzuka Mimi for meanly teasing Tobirama's brother for that exact same thing. And the twins...

The twins had been constantly trying to trip him up because they hadn't liked Tobirama being on Madara's team _at all_. And the only thing more ridiculous than their attempts at excusing themselves when Madara caught them out was their arguments with Kawarama about which random thing was coolest that day.

And now all five of them were gone.

"Madara doesn't know yet, does he?" he asked, not looking forward to when the Uchiha got back from whatever mission he was on.

"That..." she said, with an unladylike grimace, "would be the problem I mentioned."

"I would rather not be the one to tell him," Tobirama said flatly. "That is Izuna's responsibility if not their mother's or their clan's duty."

"That won't be necessary: he already knows," she said, drawing her arm back to fold her hands in front of her politely as she subtly twirled her finger in their signal for sensing the environment.

"It's clear," he said, frowning. "And how can he know? He's not in the village, and I can't believe any of the older ninja or the Hokage would be stupid enough to think Madara should be sent on a mission right after this."

"No, he's not, and no, they weren't," she agreed. "But Madara was, unfortunately, inside the village when it happened. While they might not have your range or details, he and Izuna both knew immediately when their brothers died. Shortly after they got the traitor into T&I, Madara walked in, went through anyone in his way, and tore into the man with his bare hands. He was still alive when they got Madara oﬀ him, but he's missing some pieces. As a result, Madara has been put under temporary surveillance in addition to the bereavement leave given to him and the immediate families of the dead. The Hokage doesn't want him leaving the village until Psych clears him and has suggested that Madara focus his energy on mastering his new Mangekyo while they investigate who else is responsible for this."

"Except Madara's not in the village," he repeated, feeling a headache start up. Didn't a single person know better than to expect Madara to take that lying down?

"Apparently," Mito continued, unimpressed, "people are under the absurd impression that because Izuna wasn't involved in the T&I assault, he's being more reasonable about this. No one's considered that Izuna was training with his team at the time and had a jounin quick enough to catch him by the neck when he manifested the Mangekyo and went to follow Madara."

 _Goddamnit_ , Tobirama thought, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"So when Madara stormed out and grabbed his brother before heading to my house, no one stopped them out of respect. As far as I can deduce at that point, Izuna proceeded to use his new Sharingan and a mirror to genjutsu himself to imitate his brother better while hiding behind my family's barriers. Madara probably did the same in reverse before heading to the Uchiha compound and then vanishing."

"And because no one is specifically watching Izuna, by making them think Izuna's within the compound, they'll assume they just can't find his signature because it's being drowned out by his family's chakra," he said, red eyes narrowing. "Meanwhile, the Uzumaki barriers muddle the signature of anyone inside, so the other sensors can't detect the small imperfections that give Izuna away. So they'll assume it really is Madara staying with you because he's known you so long and he can't deal with the reminders of his family right now."

"You're the only sensor that knows them well," Mito said with a nod. "And Koharu-sensei isn't here to call foul on it being suspicious. Everyone else is too occupied with the event itself. But sooner or later, their mother is going to go looking for her last two sons."

"At which point everyone finds out that Madara's outright undermined a direct order with Izuna's help," he finished, dragging his hand down his face. "That over-emotional imbecile."

"I doubt they'll bring him up on charges given the mitigating circumstances, but there's no guarantee," Mito said, hands tightening around each other. "I can't go after him: with the Kyuubi, they'll notice my chakra missing immediately. And if I'm not there, they'll intrude in the house and find Izuna faster. But you're back two days early, and you're not oﬃcially on bereavement leave until you report in. There's nothing illegal about you going since you haven't even set foot inside the village yet."

"That's why you were outside the gates," he murmured. He turned to look at her, meeting Mito's eyes. "If we use that loophole, they'll know immediately that something is up."

"That depends how long you take, and even so, no one can prove it if he's back when they look for him. It would be just as possible that you went for your own reasons after I told you, so long as they don't have proof."

"And finding him? With his head start and unknown location? It's more likely the ANBU team tracking the foreign accomplices will run into him first."

After all, there was no question of where Madara went or why. Just like there was no doubt about Tobirama going after him. Between walking into the village and dealing with the reality of what happened or going after his idiot teammate before he ruined his own career or _worse_...

Itama and Kawarama would still be gone when he got back. He'd rather not lose anyone else in the aftermath. If someone was targeting the Uchiha Clan's main family along with the Senju, the next step was taking out the remaining sons. Something Madara would be too furious to care about even if he _had_ thought of it already.

"Madara stored his half of your tagged kunai in the same place as his normal weapons when we cleaned the training grounds after you left, so he should still have them on him. I have the other half with me now," Mito answered, reaching into her sleeve and drawing out two tightly rolled scrolls. "I made these in the last few hours to work with your Hiraishin technique. It can only carry a maximum of two people safely, but there's enough chakra stored in here from myself and the Kyuubi that it won't matter how far away Madara has managed to get. You'll still be able to teleport to your kunai without having to risk exhaustion using your own chakra."

"Use one, get Madara, use the second to come back to your half of the kunai," he said, humming in appreciation as he took the scrolls. "A well made plan, although I would have preferred further testing before use."

"Luckily your level of testing is well past R&D's required safety limits, so we don't need to worry about you smearing yourself across the forest. And I've already confirmed these scrolls work with Izuna's _assistance_ ," she emphasized.

Tobirama's lips twitched slightly in faint amusement. "Leave the kunai somewhere nearby: I'll need to be seen coming back inside. Madara can get himself back in however he snuck out."

Mito nodded and then stepped forward, gently reaching out to drag his head down and rest her temple against his.

"I'm very sorry, Tobirama," she whispered, one of her hair buns bumping softly against his hitai-ate. "When you get back, we'll take the reckless fool into Training Ground 44 and kill some things with Izuna and Hashirama. He and his brother obviously can't be trusted to sensibly grieve on their own, the infants."

Tobirama smiled weakly, turning his face into Mito's red hair. "Bring some books or something and a lot of tissues," he advised. "Killing things never makes Hashirama happy and he's going to cry all over you if you're nice to him."

"I suppose I'll cope," she answered, stepping back.

Tobirama nodded to her, stored one of the scrolls, and vanished as he opened the other one.

.

* * *

.

 _Madara had certainly made every hour count_ , Tobirama thought, pulling his marked and bloodied kunai out of a tree.

It was clear from the blood trail and the forest's disrupted vegetation that he'd teleported to the place where Madara had first caught up with the enemy. They'd abandoned all subtlety after that and ran rather than engaging the teenager here, so perhaps their orders had been to report back or lure their target further before attacking.

Drawing his sword from its sheath, Tobirama made his way forward subtly. There were a few chakra signatures ahead with several others close to death, but Madara's was reassuringly strong. Wild and raging and... unstable, but strong.

 _Although,_ he thought, looking at the corpse of a dead man whose body was still being consumed by unusual black flames, _perhaps it wasn't that they were ordered not to fight_ _so much as they feared fighting._

The next several nin he discovered while heading towards Madara were much the same: either burned or broken or _ripped into pieces_. It was far messier than Madara's usual skill or methods, but it fit the inferno he could feel in the teen's chakra. The ones still living though... those nin gave Tobirama some concern. There were clear marks of battle and injury on them, but the living ones all stared ahead blankly as if there was no one home inside.

It was the mark of an extremely deep genjutsu, except Madara generally didn't use those.

A cut-oﬀ scream came from the clearing ahead, and he felt the last healthy chakra signature beside Madara's start to fade. He abandoned stealth and strode forward, briefly pausing to scowl, sheath his blade, and pick up the _Gunbai Uchiwa_ from where it had been left embedded into the ground after amputating a kunoichi's arm at the shoulder.

"I will give you points," he said icily as he entered the clearing, "for picking a type of weapon you aren't known to use before embarking on this idiocy. However, you lose twice as many points for taking your clan's _iconic heirloom_ when you're trying to remain unidentified by the ANBU team who will find this slaughter."

"Hello, Tobirama," Madara answered. He didn't even look up from where he had a man's bicep pinned under his foot as he slowly pulled the forearm oﬀ. Tobirama grimaced at the cracking, stomach-turning sounds as the ninja's bones broke and his ligaments and flesh separated under the force. He had to assume the man was under the same catatonia-inducing genjutsu as the others given he made no sound, but it must not interfere with the pain receptors if Madara was doing this.

"Don't you think this will interfere with _getting answers_ , Madara?" he demanded, walking around so he could see more of Madara than just his back. "This doesn't help us long term!"

"I got answers, Tobirama. That was what the genjutsu was for. Give me some credit," Madara said, eerily calm as he turned to face Tobirama.

The Uchiha was _covered_ in blood splatter with some larger bits of flesh sticking to him, especially on his sleeves and the front of his chuunin flak jacket. Which wasn't made better when he idly shoved his too-long bangs out of his face with a gore-covered hand.

"You're disgusting," Tobirama said flatly.

Madara shrugged, tossing the torn arm down on the man's body as he surveyed the others in the clearing. There was less rage in his chakra now, but it wasn't comforting since it had been replaced by a dark, hungry hatred that was utterly foreign to Tobirama. He could barely even feel any grief in Madara right now: it was drowned out so heavily under everything else.

Tobirama grit his teeth, moving sideways into Madara's path when he stepped forward to go towards another fallen shinobi.

"And how, you idiot, do you plan to ensure that Konoha gets that information in your head and believes it without getting caught out for doing all this? Have you considered that, Madara?" he demanded.

"I can obscure their memory of me, and the Yamanaka can get the rest of it out of their brains," the brunet refuted, a hint of familiar irritation in his voice. "You act like you're angry at me—"

"I _am_ angry at you!" he snapped back. "You should have left it to the ANBU instead of going after them yourself! What if it was a trap for you as well!"

"What, so the ANBU could subdue them, pick their brains, and then cleanly execute them like enemies instead of the murderous bastards they are!" Madara yelled, calmness cracking apart as he violently thrust his arm out, gesturing eastward. "Those incompetent fuckers aren't even close yet because they went after the fucking decoy path!"

"Was this before or after you left their main lead at T&I in a coma?" Tobirama accused, intuition lining up the evidence here with what Mito had quickly glossed over.

Madara bared his teeth in a snarl, eyes wild, before sinking into that abnormal calm again.

"I left one for you," he said, holding a bloody palm up in oﬀering.

"You did not," Tobirama scoﬀed lightly, crossing his arms. "You had no idea I would get here so quickly. You just haven't done anything to one of them yet."

"That one," Madara said, gesturing to a brown-haired shinobi collapsed against a tree, "was the one who made the explosive."

Tobirama stilled.

"He was also," Madara continued, chakra writhing in Tobirama's senses despite his calm veneer, "the one who picked _precisely_ where to place the bomb. Apparently, it was supposed to have taken place yesterday, coordinated to happen at the same time as when Itama and Teshio's team was killed. Except that the classes were rescheduled when one of the teachers became sick, so they delayed it. But then Michiru got word to our patrol unexpectedly, so they detonated it using the traitor because they didn't want to risk ' _missing the Senju and Uchiha brats'_ if they were pulled from class."

Tobirama unsheathed his sword.

He walked over to the man, Madara following behind him, and considered the man for a moment. Brown hair, no hitai-ate, no identifying gear... and completely helpless under the Mangekyo's genjutsu.

This was the man responsible for the weapon that killed his youngest brother.

Tobirama grabbed him by the hair, dragged him up partway, and cut oﬀ his head.

"What!" Madara exclaimed. "Why did you just—"

"Did _this_ ," Tobirama interrupted, spinning around to grab Madara by the chin as he gestured around the clearing. "Did this make you feel any better, Madara? The torture rather than the death?"

"They _deserved—_ "

"It doesn't bring back your brothers, Madara," he countered, staring at the unfamiliar pattern in those red eyes. "It doesn't bring back my brothers either."

Madara tried stepping back and Tobirama yanked him forward by his vest, not letting go of the other teens chin as he leaned in, making it impossible for Madara to avoid meeting his eyes.

"I don't think the twins would like to see their big brother this way, Madara. Not you. Me, maybe, those little brats, but—"

Madara barked a laugh, caught oﬀ-guard by Izuna's favorite complaint, and then couldn't seem to stop laughing, although it quickly became torn between laughter and sobs as the Sharingan faded from his eyes.

"They we-were such brats," Madara choked out, eyes glossy before he buried his face in Tobirama's neck, shoulders silently shaking as his chakra shifted away from that vile hatred and into a grief-filled normality.

Tobirama leaned his head against Madara's, letting go of his sword to gently run his hand through spiky black hair, already resigned to burning these clothes even before his teammate clutched him closer with bloody hands.

 _It would have been a good day for rain_ , he thought, face bone dry as he stared up at sun-touched green leaves.

 _I would have... I would have appreciated rain._


End file.
